131 main

pleasantly surprised!. read so many bad reviews about this place so i was surprised ourgoodfriends suggested we eat there tonight prior to going to see a movie next door. they said they had eaten there many times and enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere. the service tonight was prompt and professional, and the ribs with fries and cole slaw was possibly the best i ever ate. we will be returning and be bringing other friends and family. the only complaint i had was that our waitress was no where to be found when it was time to pay the check. other than that, a real winner.

good for the rich and lonely. pedestrian high-end presentation. it'sgoodbut not mind blowing. about as far up from the olive garden as the olive garden is from applebee's.

always one of my family's favorite places to go. everything i have had is fabulous but i especially love their appetizer the double dip and their main salads with creamy garlic dressing. their burgers are great and their veggie burgers are sogoodi get them sometimes even though i'm not a vegetarian! their filet is amazing also. i've never had anything bad.

trendy, some fusion, fun, well presented and served. dinner for two seems to be agooddeal!

ya never know about this place.. my first visit here had me raving, especially about the cornbread and their specialty banana dessert. service was terrible. for my 2nd visit, however, the cornbread was dry as could be, not moist and delicious as it was before. excellent thai beef salad, though. third visit, service was great, cornbread was just so-so, as were other appetizers ordered. fourth visit, cornbread dry like 2nd visit, and waitstaff were on top of us throughout the meal --- too much of agoodthing --- and one actually argued with me about the ingredients in one of the dishes. the manager cleared it up (she was wrong, i was right). she shouldn't have argued and she shouldn't have spoken about something she obviously knew nothing about). i'm tired of trying this place. think i'm done. oh, and did i mentioned that the food is overpriced? yeah, i'm done.

charged twice, almost gotgoodservice once. after speaking with the manager he has totally exceeded my expectations and is making it right. he has invited us back to the restaurant. we are looking forward to this experience being better. everyone deserves a second chance, we are going to give them one:))


-----13 dec, 2011-----

charged twice, almost gotgoodservice once. we had our company christmas party @ said restaurant and tipped the servers the 18% they added for the snoody service,plus an additional $400 from the owner, which wasn't based off of service. i had a $14 bar tab and tipped six but was charged twice. my advice is watch your wallet around this croud.

i combined the thai steak salad with the substitution of tuna for steak...it was very good, ambiance is a lesser houston's or j. alex, service was good, iron skillet corn bread app was average. would recommend it. simple, clean,goodservice and better than average fair.

good food, fun lively place. ok, i've read most of the more entertaining reviews of this restaurant and here are my observations:

despite the fact that it's adjacent to a movie theatre, this is obviously not a fast-food joint. so if you show up with your screaming crumbsnatchers in tow expecting wendy's, you have chosen the wrong place. if you are in a hurry to get somewhere - you are in the wrong place. if you expect a nice dinner for under $20 - eat out in brazil, it's terrific.

that said, i came here expecting to make an evening of it, and we did. busy, and forgoodreason, on a saturday night at 8. but we were seated within 5 minutes or so of our appointed time, and the waitress was friendly and informative.

we both had a salad (see photo of mine, wow! cukes and tomato in a rice wine vinegar dressing with sesame seeds and onion). we also both went for the prime rib bacause prime rib rocks. and this one, did, absolutely. i'm not going to describe it, because a picture is worth a thousand words.

knitter likes the atmosphere. the mama who feels everyone should want her child in an adult atmosphere should know the child starts out learninggoodmanners at shoney's and comes here when they're old enough to be aware of others. the food is great at 131 main and the atmosphere is fun.


-----30 jan, 2011-----

our favorite. we've enjoyed four experiences here and they've all been memorable. wait staff great without being intrusive. the food is delicious and beautifully presented. we noted a review stating it's not kid friendly. we haven't noticed children on our trips there, but why would we want to. kids belong at shoneys, not intruding on an adult evening. we pay for a relaxing experience, not your kids squirming presence.

impressed. let me start by saying that it is usually with much inquiry before i go to a restaurant that generally has the type reviews posted here with regard to service, food and attitude. i was told by a local that this was agoodplace to have a unigue experience andgoodlocal food. i also must note that my visit is slightly newer than most here so possibly the management took many of the comments to task and did work on several of these. i can honestly say that i went here with a bit of an underlying suspicion that the reviews were indeed correct and i should stay away. i am glad i did not.


from the very first person at the door i was greeted, seated and waited on very very well. yes it is obvious that they have been trained to be attentive but i did not ever feel overwhelmed. i was alone and did take special note of this in regards to other groups / tables near me. it is clear they have worked on this since many of the reviews. i was also impressed that i saw not only regular staff but also the manager worked that floor as vigorously as the staff. that guy was everywhere!!

the dish i ordered was the shrimp and grits for $18.00 bucks. the shrimp were very well prepared and not at all rubbery...a pet peve of mine.. i had an appetizer as well of two kinds of dip with a type of pimento cheese and guacamole type dips on the side. after the table across from me got the cornbread i wished i had done that as they both obviously loved it and let me say i am glad they did not both leave the table at once as i may have swiped a slice for my own..lol..

i had an appetizer , entree and a drink and was out for around $31.00 bucks. not the cheapest place in town but i personally thought ok for the price.

i also wanted to make note that i would agree this is not your typical kid freindly place but for a different place with some unigue dishes i would not recommend this place for children unless they have a mature set of taste buds.

i for one will indeed give this one another go next time in the area.

good times. went here last night had agoodtime. the wait staff is great. had a drink and wife had water :(.. oh well.
she had the tremendous roast beef hoagie. the beef was a little too rare for her, but the waiter did recommend let's put in the oven for a bit. she declined, she regretted that. i did have a taste it was very good. but then i can eat tartare with great love. i had the mahi which was just out of date, had that old grilled fish taste. should have gone with the lamb shanks. oh well... i will give it 2 more times. at this point it's worth another visit.

update, the manager replied back to me in email. we went back and i had the grouper again and i must say it was much better this time. i did not meet the manager as he wanted. i did not want special treatment. it was the way grouper should be. light, very fresh and very good.
had lunch today 7-15-12. it was verygoodmy wife again had the roast beef which she did enjoy, i had the grilled chicken sandwich also very good. but i have to say the key lime pie was great. if you're a kl fan you'll love this.

get the cornbread skillet!!! we went for dinner which wasgood(pork and chicken entrees) but the cornbread was the standout item. a must try.

if your looking for agoodtime, don't come here. my companion and i had heard mixed reviews for months and finally decided to give this place a try! upon sitting down, within 5 seconds a woman walks up and says "i'm not your server but can i get you guys a drink?" we told her that it was our 1st time here and she had no response. like she could have cared less. (this was early by the way and the restaurant wasn't full at all. around 5:30pm on a friday night.) we told her to give us a few minutes and she just walked away. within another 30 seconds another waiter walked over and said "hey guys, your drinks will be here in a minute, what do you want to eat?" really?? no, hi! my name is. or can i tell you about the specials? nothing. at this point, we almost got up and left but my companion told me lets just give it a try.. so, i decided on the ribeye (ordered medium w/ mashed potatoes - $22 not including a soup or salad.. with was an extra $4.. the ribeye tasted like straight pineapple juice, overcooked, dry and not great quality meat. the mashed potatoes were extremly oily. it was like they squirted out olive oil on top of them. the salad wasn't that bad actually! the cornbread croutons were pretty good. my companion had the flounder w/ mashed potatoes which was $18 no salad included either.. the fish was maybe 6-7oz and bland as cardboard! same problem with his potatoes! after our salads came, we saw our server 1, yes 1 last time. when the check was ready to be laid down! not one time did anyone ask us how things were or if we were okay or anything! the manager walked by us numerous times and we were ignored! even with our plates more than half full when he finally came back, he asked if we needed a box but nothing more. i will not recommend this place to anyone! no atmosphere, no service, no food! what a waste!

can't recommend due to poor service. the food here is excellent. the shrimp & grits rival any in charleston, sc. i have been here a few times & without exception, the service is severely lacking - can't get anyone to wait on you once you are seated & forget getting your drinks refilled. getting someone to give us our check was an ordeal. there are too many othergoodplaces to eat in asheville to put up with this kind of service.

dee&jon. we love 131 main and can recommend it without reservation (no pun intended). jonathan, our favorite server, takesgoodcare of us and always remembers the details. for a light lunch, we share a salad with grilled chicken. their french dip is heavenly and big enough for two or a really hearty appetite. and if you want the experience of a lifetime, try their banana pie. it is almost too yummy to describe but we'll try: crunchy crust, creamy filling, whipped cream, chocolate chunks, and many large chunks of fresh banana. two forks, no. four forks, yes. we promise you will love 131 main.